I've been with DirecTV since 2002, and other than the initial install back then, I've always purchased (or now leased) my own equipment and installed it myself. On Friday I activated a new HR44 from Solid Signal and have an issue that's puzzling me and DirecTV. I have a SWM16 that was feeding two HR20-100s. They've worked fine for years for all sats. I installed the HR44 to the second port on the SWM16 as four tuners were already on the first port. The HR44 is not seeing Sat 103 A or B both odd and even. Signal strength is all zeroes on all available transponders. Channels 9508 - 9511 show 771 error as do all channels that use 103. All other sats are seen with strong signals. The HR20s see Sat 103 with strength in the 90s.
I made a new cable from the SWM to the HR44 - no joy. I swapped the connections of the HR44 with one of the HR20s. The HR44 still does not see 103 and the HR20 sees it just fine on the HR44's cable. I did all the normal checks - cables, connections, resets, unplugging the SWM16 and restarting, etc. Called DirecTV and we ran through every diagnostic they could think of and finally said we need to send a tech. I'd rather not have that happen because I'm afraid they may want to swap the receiver and I could end up with a 34 as a replacement.
All other parts of my system work just fine, including the newly-activated WHDVR.
When you say your swapped the cables at the HR20 and HR44, do you mean you picked up and moved the HR20 and plugged it in where the HR44 is plugged in, and vice versa? When you say swapped cables, it makes it sound like you're switching stuff around on the SWM16 or something like that, which is not the same thing.
When you say your swapped the cables at the HR20 and HR44, do you mean you picked up and moved the HR20 and plugged it in where the HR44 is plugged in, and vice versa? When you say swapped cables, it makes it sound like you're switching stuff around on the SWM16 or something like that, which is not the same thing.
I can understand the confusion. I don't have the typical setup. All my DirectTV receivers (one HR44 and two HR20s) and my TiVo Premier XL are in a rack in an air-conditioned closet centrally located in my home. All the DVRs go to an Onkyo HT receiver that can be played on the two TVs we use. So I took the cable off the back of the DVRs and reconnected them to the other DVRs, trying every combination. I have also tried a homerun from the SWM to each of the DVRs, and also from the splitter of the other port of the SWM. In every case, the HR20s have strong signals on 103 ca and cb, and the HR44 has all zeroes.
I'm a little confused where you think the power problem is. Are you thinking it's at the SWM or at the DVRs? I have tried the HR44 with it as the only receiver connected to the SWM, and that didn't help. I cannot get a TV to the HR44, but I have HDMI homeruns for all TVs to the Onkyo receiver. I can feed an HDMI cable from the TV to the HR44, but it will still be a 65' HDMI run, but that shouldn't affect the DVR.
The power issue can be anywhere. Flat screens have floating grounds. HDMI cables conduct electricity from one ground to another. The coaxial shield can pass the voltage along to the switch and affect the way it works. You sound flush, walmarts open 24 hours, keep your receipt.
The 15 feet "rule" with the PI is when you are using the signal to IRD port of the PI. if he PI is connected to the middle port, there there is no cable length limitations. as far as the 40 feet to the dish, this is not a problem, no need for any amps. amps are used for longer cable runs
The 15 feet "rule" with the PI is when you are using the signal to IRD port of the PI. if he PI is connected to the middle port, there there is no cable length limitations. as far as the 40 feet to the dish, this is not a problem, no need for any amps. amps are used for longer cable runs
OK, it's fixed. Turns out it was the LNB. I ordered a new SL5 from Solid Signal. Unplugged the three receivers, swapped the LNB, restarted and tested the receivers one at a time, starting with the HR44, and all receivers are seeing all sats with very strong signals in the 90s to 100 (except for some spotbeams, of course). I then unplugged the HR44, attached a 4-bay RAID-5 tower with four 2TB drives, yielding 6TB of storage. This will give me the same storage I had with my three HR20s since they each had 2TB drives. One HR20 is retired, and the other two will be retired when I watch all the shows on them.
Thanks for all the suggestions. If the two HR20s weren't receiving 103ca and cb, I would have suspected the LNB or cable right away. But since the cabling was all good and the HR20s worked, the suspect was the HR44. I guess the HR44 is more sensitive to low signals than the HR20s.
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